Governor Granholm Visits Israel - Detroit Jewish News Online

Detroit Jewish News on Governmor's Trip

Thursday, November 27, 2008
Reprinted with permission from Detroit Jewish News/Jnonline.us
NEWS: In Search Of Jobs, Investment
Governor visits Israel in hopes of diversifying Michigan economy.
Robert Sklar
Editor

Chuck Newman, Stanley Frankel, Gov. Granholm, Gary Torgow and Mark Davidoff in front of the Frankel School in Jerusalem

Prime Minister Olmert with Gov. Granholm in Jerusalem

Shai Agassi of the Better Place, a Tel Aviv company working hard to electrify the car, shows Gov. Granholm the battery in one of his company’s vehicles.

The principal of the Jean and Samuel Frankel Traditional School in Jerusalem showed Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm a Jewish National Fund tzedakah box. She told the governor how Jews for generations have dropped coins into the blue boxes to help build forests, parks and water resources as well as fight land degradation and sustain agriculture.

Through this example, the principal - Detroiter Barbara Goldsmith Levin, whose parents, Alice and Max Goldsmith, were active at Adat Shalom Synagogue - recounted how much love Israelis have for their country.

"It's just so beautiful," the governor told the JN in an exclusive interview while she was aboard a bus amid her seventh overseas jobs and investment mission since 2004. The trip to Israel and Jordan spanned Nov. 15-19. The 15-member Michigan delegation included Michigan Economic Development Corp. President James Epolito and plenty of representation from the Jewish community.

"It's so profound to see the love of this country, to feel it even as a Christian, to experience the pride of living here - the very strong connection to the land and the culture on the part of the people," Granholm said via cell phone on Nov. 18.

The 32-year-old, multi-stream school, founded by Levin in 1976, is named after its major Detroit benefactors, the Frankels.

"Frankel School is a tremendous example of commitment to Israel, to pluralism and to educating young people," Granholm said.

When she arrived at the school, the students were standing outside, waving Israeli and American flags and singing Israeli songs. A Michigan flag adorned the front of the school. The kids later marched in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Israeli statehood.

The methodology and inclusiveness of the school is a lasting tribute to the contributions by Levin and the Frankels, Granholm said. "We in Michigan should feel very proud of their contributions in Israel," she said.

Detroiter Stanley Frankel, one of the Frankels' children and a philanthropic leader in his own right, flew in for the day. He's the Friends of Frankel School's administrator.

Economic Seeds

Granholm, 49, became Michigan governor in 2003 and was re-elected in 2006. She had visited Israel once before, in 1981 while a student at the University of California-Berkeley. In the past, her gubernatorial trade missions have tended to focus on Japan and Germany because of Michigan's automotive ties to those countries. Her current strategic plan calls for rebuilding Michigan's flailing economy by reaching out to countries that have expertise in technology, alternative energy, life sciences, homeland security and defense.

"Israel has all of the sweet spots that we are moving into as we diversify Michigan's economy," Granholm said.

Her pitch was simple: Michigan offers an excellent workforce as well as economic development incentives and a family-oriented quality of life.

On the whirlwind sojourn to what Granholm termed the cradle of multiple great religions, the Michigan delegation met with officials from about 130 companies.

A jog in Tel Aviv amid sunny skies and 70-degree temperatures along the Mediterranean Sea reinvigorated her after the 10-hour flight from the East Coast to Ben-Gurion International Airport. The dinner menu that first night was strictly Mediterranean: fish falafel, cucumber salad with yogurt dressing, grilled salmon and sweet lemon crepes.

In what she described as a key success of the mission, Granholm signed a Joint Declaration of Strategic Cooperation regarding water technology. Cosigners were Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, his deputy prime minister and his minister of industry, trade and labor.

"Israel has been the Silicon Valley of such technology," Granholm said. "And Michigan has more miles of shoreline and access to water than any other state besides Alaska. Water is a niche for us."

Michigan won't be sending water to Israel, but rather combining its water technology with Israel's to enhance techniques in water quality, water conservation and wastewater reuse.

"We're doing a map of Michigan businesses to parallel what Israel has with respect to businesses expert in water technology and water opportunities," Granholm said. "This is an obvious area of partnership."

The governor said her Nov. 17 meeting with the prime minister also validated her confidence in her heightened pursuit of venture capital as a pillar of Michigan's economic growth. One of her visits in Israel was to Inspire Invest, a Tel Aviv venture capital firm whose portfolio includes the Michigan defense firm Burtek Inc.

Mission Power

Granholm's delegation included representation from the State of Michigan, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), Oakland County Planning and Economic Development Services, the Ann Arbor-based Michigan Israel Business Bridge and the Better Place Inc., a nonprofit economic development organization serving the Grand Rapids area. The MEDC funded the trip. Oak Park resident Gary Torgow, president of the Detroit-based Sterling Group, chaired the mission.

Lots of positive meetings with enterprises of all sizes will translate into trans-Atlantic business ties between Michigan and Israel, Granholm promises.

"I can't tell you when because the MEDC must take action before we can confirm anything," she said. "But I know that over the next couple of months, you'll see announcements, some shorter term and others longer term."

She pointed to the nonprofit Michigan Israel Business Bridge (MIBB), headed by Executive Director Ron Perry, as a central player in identifying prospects and opportunities. It already knows which Michigan business people serve on corporate and organizational boards in Israel. Perry was instrumental in arranging the governor's meeting schedule.

"The MIBB is our vehicle through which a lot of these relationships can be built up and significant deliverables can flow," Granholm said.

While in Israel, she spoke at the second annual MIBB Automotive Partnership event.

After meeting with Olmert, Granholm shared ideas with Shai Agassi, CEO of the Better Place subsidiary in Tel Aviv. He gave her fresh enthusiasm for electric vehicles. Israel is committed to all electric vehicles by 2020 to become independent of foreign oil. "It's a national security issue for them," Granholm said. "Obviously, it's an energy issue.

"The same two principles apply to us."

She added, "Shai really wants to partner with Michigan to produce the vehicles. He already has produced an all-battery car. And he is building stations in Israel where car batteries can be recharged."

That showpiece car is a great sales tool for such a partnership. "It's so important that Michigan and our automakers, especially at this time, lead the country in producing the electric vehicle," Granholm said.

Granholm urges Congress to understand why America must embrace energy production as opposed to ceding that technology to Asia and oil production to the Middle East.

"The Better Place is a classic example of the synergistic automotive expertise that we have right now between Michigan companies and Israeli companies," Granholm said.

In fact, Granholm cut her mission short, scaling back her post-Israel visit to Jordan from two days to one day, so she could be in Washington on Nov. 20 to testify on behalf of the embattled Detroit automakers seeking federal loans to stop their financial freefall.

Selling Michigan

The Michigan delegation also visited the Tel Aviv headquarters of Perrigo Israel, a health sciences company that has a west Michigan location. Last summer, Perrigo announced a $25 million Michigan expansion. It expects to further grow here.

"Those were exciting moments, listening to Perrigo's Rafi Lebel and telling him that we are ready to help them grow their business and grow new jobs right now," Granholm said. "We already have a great working relationship, but this trip is all about building on our links."

The day the JN interviewed Granholm, she was en route from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by bus, traversing the Judean hills. The delegation had just visited the giant Israeli homeland security and defense contractor Elbit Israel. It's a $2.4-billion a year enterprise controlling 40 percent of defense sales in Israel. The chairman of Elbit North America is Joe Parini of Grand Rapids.

"They have a great opportunity to see their technology transfer from the defense industry to the auto industry," Granholm said.

The evening of Nov. 18, her last day in Israel before moving on to Jordan, Granholm, her team and other Michiganians visiting Israel attended a reception at the Herzliya Petach home of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham. The guest list included Detroiter Bill Berman, who celebrated his 91st birthday at the affair.

"It really has been a very special, very wonderful trip," Granholm said. "I feel very moved."

Other Takes

Mark Davidoff of West Bloomfield is the Detroit-based lead client service partner on the State of Michigan account for Deloitte & Touche Financial Advisory Services LLP. He helped shape the governor's itinerary.

"I'm honored to have helped plan and execute this trip," Davidoff said after Granholm passed her cell phone to him.

Davidoff was integrally involved last May when the mission originally was scheduled. It was postponed after the governor had emergency bowel obstruction surgery just before her planned departure.

"I think there's great opportunity for an expanded partnership between Michigan and Israel in the areas centered around the governor's agenda for the renewed economy of Michigan," Davidoff said.

Chuck Newman of Ann Arbor, founder, CEO and president of ReCellular Inc., a Dexter-based mega recycler and reseller of cell phones and accessories, is president of the Michigan Israel Business Bridge. When Davidoff passed the governor's cell phone to him, Newman remarked about the governor's unbridled pace. "She has great energy and we're utilizing every ounce of it," he said.

Newman likes the mission's long-range outlook. "It's pretty clear to many of us," he said, "that the governor has the president-elect's ear. I think a lot of what she learned here has value not just for Michigan, but America as well. And I think this message is going to get passed along."

Granholm is on President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.

The Michigan Israel Business Bridge is primed for a busy 2009.

"I'm feeling elation mixed with trepidation," Newman said. "I'm contemplating the incredible opportunities from the mission. At the same time, I know it would be a shande [disgrace] if we did not follow up very aggressively. That's going to require a huge amount of work for the MEDC and the Michigan Israel Business Bridge. But that's an awfully good problem to have.

"We've got lots of exciting stories yet to tell."